To tofu or not to tofu

I think you either love tofu or you are a little freaked out by tofu. And I'll admit I used to think it was tasteless, processed, fake stuff. That was until I did a little research and did a little testing in the kitchen. The fact is, tofu is a quick and easy protein source that your kids will eat. The trick is, knowing what to buy and how to cook it.

What it is and what it isn't: tofu is not the highly processed fake food I once thought it was. It's simply soy beans that are boiled, puréed and strained, then pressed into a firm mass. Is it soy beans in their natural state? No. But it's not too far off! 

Twin Oaks tofu

Here in Virginia, we are lucky enough to have the intentional community called Twin Oaks making organic tofu for us by hand. We can find it at our local markets, but if you don't live in Virginia, the best tofu to buy (in my opinion) is extra firm organic. Definitely go organic with your soy products because soy is similar to corn as far as mass production goes, and they do some nasty things to plants...keep it clean and healthy. 

When to eat it: I think tofu is good for switching things up every now and again. My family has a tofu meal about once every two weeks or so. I think it's important to stick with veggies in their natural state (ie: a meal made from fresh produce, grains and legumes) but keeping meals exciting is important too. 

Toddler approved recipes: 

Owen will eat tofu right out of the package or with a little of my peanut sauce for dipping. But here are two recipes that are favorites for dinner and then lunch leftovers:

Vegan stuffed shells from pbs.org

 (thank you to my friend Elizabeth Howe for showing me this recipe)

 Click here for recipe

Tofu quiche

Ingredients:

1 Wholly Wholesome vegan pie crust (because as many times as I've tried I cannot make a crust to save my life)

1 package extra firm organic tofu

1 head steamed broccoli

1 roasted red pepper (optional)

1 medium yellow onion diced

2 cloves garlic minced 

1t thyme

1/2 t oregano

1/2 t rosemary

1/2 t sage

1/2 t parsley 

3-4 basil leaves chopped
1 tomato sliced for the top

Take pie crust out of freezer and thaw on counter. Heat up 1 T olive oil in pan and add onion. Cook a few minutes until translucent and add garlic, cook a minute more and turnoff heat. Break up tofu into 1 inch pieces and place in blender. Process until smooth (add a splash of milk if it's not getting to a smooth consistency on its own in the blender. You want it to be like a thick paste that doesn't leave the spoon if you take a big scoop and turn it upside down). When tofu is smooth, dump into a bowl and mix in onion and garlic, broccoli, red pepper and herbs. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Smooth this out into the pie crust, add sliced tomato and then bake at 375 for 35 minutes